Truthfully, I usually make New Year’s Resolutions. I sort of did this year, and stuck to some of them all year, others lasted for maybe a month or two before falling by the wayside. But as 2018 progressed, I noticed that there were simple, smaller changes I was making monthly, weekly, or even daily, that led me to achieve bigger goals without even realizing it. It also boils down to one major thing: January 1st is an arbitrary start date. Yes it’s a new year, but it’s also just a Tuesday (or whatever day of the week)! If you started it on January 14th or November 17th, you’d still be doing the same thing. If you want to make a change, don’t put it off.

If there was a change I wanted to see in myself, whether it was the end of a bad habit, introduction of a better habit, learning a new skill, what have you, I realized that starting it right then and there was better for me than trying to give a bunch of goals a start date.

When I made note of something that I wanted to start or stop doing, I did whatever I could to start making moves towards towards change. Next thing I knew, I was making changes left and right without even realizing - in a good way. Honestly, I got a little overwhelmed when I had a list of big resolutions, and that’s definitely why I lost motivation to see some of them through. When I felt like I wasn’t able to fully nurture a developing change, I just let it fizzle out. But when I broke things down and didn’t force a start or end date, I actually got the results I hoped for.

Of course, change takes time, and realizing that was the main thing that I promised myself I’d work on throughout 2018 - not rushing progress and being patient. In the era of instant gratification, making lasting lifestyle changes is harder than usual. But if you want to see a change in yourself, start today. Don’t delay it just because you can start tomorrow, or next year. Be patient with yourself, and understand that almost nothing miraculous happens overnight.

While I fully believe in setting goals, Antoine de Saint Exupéry wrote it best: “a goal without a plan is just a wish.” When I stepped back at the beginning of the year an examined the changes I wanted to see in myself in the next 365 days, I didn’t have a plan. I just wanted things to be different. When I broke my goals down into smaller, actionable steps, I actually saw these changes begin to materialize.

In the end, 2018 was a great year. I read more, I saw Disneyland for the first time as an adult, went to Oahu with my family, deepened my relationships with friends, learned new recipes, thrived in my organic chemistry lab, and so on. But in taking the pressure off of myself to read a certain number of books, travel ‘x’ amount of times, save perhaps an overly-ambitious amount of money, or anything restricting like that, I gave myself the freedom to grow this year. And now, in December, I feel more fulfilled than I thought I would at year’s end, and have no disappointment about the goals I didn’t reach this year.

So no, I will not be setting new year’s resolutions for 2019. I will act on the things I want to change as soon as I’m able to, instead of waiting for the clock to strike midnight on a new year. I will take situations on as they come, celebrate every accomplishment, and live out next year fully knowing that “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

All in all, I wish you the best year yet. Just remember that you don’t have to wait for the new year to start making strides towards living your best life.

Magically,

Maya